Fix the strap! (and other high chair advice)

Learning to use a high chair at a kid-friendlyrestaurant with a baby is one of a zillion things you learn how to do with a kid. I realized how important the high chair can be after a series of visits to numerous Bay Area eating spots. The high chair can be a great tool to keeping you and your baby happy. This of course depends on how your wee one is feeling that day. On one outing, a helpful and kind dining companion saw me struggle with the high chair. She stood behind my son Cip, swooped her arm under him, and bent his legs so he’d fit safely into the chair. I joked something like, “So that’s how you do it!” to her. Before I had seen her do that, I would try and get Cip into a restaurant high chair one leg at a time, from the front or side, which never quite seemed right.

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They’re never this clean …

What are your survival tactics when setting up restaurant seating with a toddler: Bring a friend or other helper? Make sure the kid is asleep (I’m half-way kidding)? Be a return customer to your tried-and-true favorite places? Please serve us any wise, delicious and funny tips in the comments.

When I was a restaurant floor manager, I would double check to see if a high chair was clean before setting it up for guests. If it was gunky or dirty at all, I would take the time to clean it up. The first time my boss saw me do this, he paused. When we were away from customers, he said, “Thank you for doing that.” Offering a clean, usable high chair wins major points with parents and caregivers. I’m (now) more likely to return to such a kid-friendly place and tip well when I know the seating for my son is a sure thing.

It’s ideal to have a restaurant staff member bring the high chair to the table. Total dream world but hey, you’re allowed to dream a little here. Table delivery may not happen if the place is busy, low budge, or is more of a DIY spot. At Mel’s Drive In on Mission Street, the hostess offered to get us one when she seated us. The first chair didn’t have a belt and the two chairs we looked at were pretty dirty. At Westfield, I gave up on the high chair idea because the one chair I was directed to had a you guessed it, broken seat belt. When that happens, have your kid eat in your lap, take turns with holding him/her, or use your stroller/Bjorn/baby carrier.

Restaurant owners and operators: if a high chair is broken, fix or get rid of it. Or at least get it off the floor and away from staff and customers, who will try again and again to use it. I know restaurant work can be fast paced and hectic, but it seems like high chairs get the shaft, if my numerous outings are telling. That missing seat belt is a real bummer, since the high chair is unsafe to use without one. A wiggly kid could squirm, fall or otherwise risk injury. Bussers or managers should regularly check that the chair has all parts, isn’t wobbly, and that the belt fastens and stays locked in position. When high chairs are presented as dirty, sticky, and/or missing a seat belt, it sends a message.

MARY LADD lives in San Francisco’s Mission District with her newborn son and husband, the Chronicle’s Oscar Villalon. She obsesses over food, cooking and events for a living and likes to read and walk every day. Mary also writes at SFist and her Jalapeno Girl blog.